i thought it was really interesting there's a new beat to the country after the election defeat of romney the way in which the governors in las vegas who spoke about modernizing gop as you might do abroad. can they push the gop along to the extent that we get a deal sooner rather than later on this particular issue? >> reporter: in theory they could. in practice the national political dialogue and state level political dialogues move on separate tracks. the governors can lend their voices but they can't have a lot of influence. members of the house and senate who are elected in particular states, they are driven by their own electoral imperatives and political imperatives and the governors have influence but not all that much. the one thing that is true about the governors, simon, most states are strained financially. they need more money. the healthier the federal government is financially, the more aid they get in those states and the reverse is true as well. the worst the federal deficit, the more aids to states get cut. >> okay. john, thank you very much. the view there from washingto